Self-service furnishing for stores



C. C. CARPENTER.

SELF SERVICE FURNISHING FOR STORES. APPLICATION FILED MAYIS, I916.

Patented Aug. 22, 1916.

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CHARLES C. CARPENTER, SWAMPSCO TT, MASSACHUSETTS.

SELF-SERVICE FURNISHING FOB STORIES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 22, 1916.

Application filed May 15, 1916. Serial No. 97,509.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, CHARLES C. CARPEN- run, a citizen of the United States, residing at Swampscott, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Self-Service Furnishing for Stores, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a'self-service out fit or furnishing for retail stores, and is directed to the production of such a service outfit as will adapt it for use in such restricted areas as would be of no possible utility under other service conditions, and, additionally, will reduce to a minimum the number of salesmen required for the satisfactory attendance on customers.

The usual retail store service requires room 1 for its immediately desired stock,

space for taking 'care ofand serving customers, and an adequate force of attendants for such service, all of which adds to the retail cost of the articles sold or materially reduces the profits of the owner.

In many localities high rental for necessary space under present systems renders impossible the establishment of a retail store in such locality, or in the event a restricted area can be rented, it is impossible, under present retail service conditions, to utilize such space, as it does not afiord sufficient room for stock, salesmen, and customers.

The main object of the present invention is to overcome all such objections, while at the same time give a better and quicker service to the customer, and by reducing overhead charges benefit the customer by selling a better article at the same cost, or the same grade at a reduced cost, without loss of normal profit to the owner. 7

The structural features involve the use of alongside of which is arranged .an article elevator, the elevator well leading to a stockspace or shelves arranged directly above the customer and on what might be termed a balcony mezzanine floor. An attendant on the main floor notifies the stock clerk of the wants of the particular customer, also his seat number, and the stock clerk delivers the wanted commodity to the proper elevator, which he then lowersdirectly to the seat, or in the immediate vicinity of the seat of. such 7 customer. The attendant delivers the goods to the customer, or the customer may take in the facts that, only sufficient width of unoccupied space is necessary as will permlt the customers reaching and leaving the seats, and the passage of the attendant in front of the customers, and the self-service feature reduces to a minimum the number of attendants necessary. The entire absence of stock on the customers floor, is important as it saves space, preserves the stock, prevents loss by theft, keeps the jumble of disordered stock from the sight of customers, so that at all times an orderly appearance is conserved. In fact, in connection with those commodities not requiring to be Weighed or measured, a space of six feet in width is ample and a single attendant in the customer floor and a single stock clerk on the mezzanine floor may satisfactorily take care of twelve or fifteen customers at one time and with even less delay than by the present service. 7 j

The invention, as illustrated, shows the service outfit adapted for a retail shoe store, and the facts stated have been proven by actual installation and use.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a single unit of the outfit. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same and illustrating particularly the comparative narrow Width of space required.

The self-service outfit as illustrated is designed particularly for retail shoe stores, and, while the structural details to be described are adapted generally for other retail stores, it is to be understood that the outfit described may be modified by equivalent or similar details to more specifically adapt it for such other retail stores.

a seat or the equivalent for each customer,

Assuming the store space, which, for the purpose, need not be more than six feet in width, limited by side walls or partitions 1 and 2, there is arranged slightly in advance width of the main space. Below the balcony, the posts form supports for partitions 4 reaching to the wall 2, and from the floor to the balcony. There is thus formed a series of open booths 5 arranged in succession against the wall 2 and opening into the main space of the store, that is conveniently accessible from such space.

Each booth is a duplicate of the other, and in each is arranged at a convenient height, a seat platform 6, of sufiicient length for two persons, and the booth above the seat is divided, by a substantially central partition 7, into two compartments each having a seat for an individual customer. The seats are preferably successively numbered throughout the store for identification purposes as will later appear. On each side of the partition 7 which extends through the balcony floor and above'the same, as at 8, is arranged a longitudinally-disposed runway, or well 9,

open at the front at least for a portion of its length, and extending from a point above the seat 6 to a point above the balcony floor- The partition 7 formsthe main support for the wells, and in each well is arranged a car or cage 10, of suflicient size to accommodate the articles to be handled.

By preference, the cars or elevators may be made practically self-sustaining and hence easy to move, by the use of a springoperated supporting-cable or tape, a spring casing 11 of any well-known commercial type being secured to the top of each well, the tape 12 being secured to the car. In lowering the car, the spring is wound and the car is thus assisted in returning, or the spring may be of such strength that a slight effort is necessary to force the car to its lower position, while the car will rest in its upper position at such height above the balcony floor as will make it convenient for the stock clerk. It is also preferred to provide means for temporarily holding the car in its lowered position, and there is shown for this purpose an arrow-headed stop 13, fixed at the proper height on the rear wall of the well, and adapted to be engaged by appro priately-formed spring arms lt pendent from the bottom of the car, the engagement holding the car within convenient reach, against the tension of the spring, until released. All available space above the balcony is to be provided with stock shelves 15, and the balcony is preferably provided with a front semi-wall or guard 16, by which the stock clerk is protected against falling and the stock hidden from view of the customer.

A customer entering the store, will find his way to'an unoccupied seat, and make known his wants to the attendant. The latter, in the retail shoe store service, having carton from the elevator In front of each 7 seat is a self-service shoe stand 17', which forms the subject of an application for Patent #827,741, filed by me March'27,"

1914. The customer tries the shoes on himself, the attendant being meanwhile busy with other customers. If a change-of shoes is desired, the attendant places the tried shoes in the elevator, returning the same to the balcony, using sufficient force to unlatch' the car and move it upward, and advises the stock clerk of the new requirements, and the operation is repeated.

The outfit described will thus permit the effective utillization of-such narrow floor spaces as have been heretofore impossible of s'uch use; will enable a single salesman and stock clerk to supplythe'wants of all possible customers; will enable the single salesman to observe all customers, as the custo- V. f

mers are practically waiting on themselves and thus prevent theft, which liability is I16 further removed, as each customer will, in

the greater number of cases, have but a V single article of sale before him atone time ,7

will keep the jumble of disordered stock entirely from the sight of'the customers, im-

proving the appearance of the store; and will permit each customer to enter, be waited on, and leave the store without interference with or from any othercustomer.

The outfit has been stated to permit use of narrow spaces otherwise useless for the purposes. It may be more correctly stated,

that the outfit requires and in fact has as an essentialcharacteristic a narrow space, as

otherwise a number of customers greaterthan the number of seats would congregate, and the single attendant could not'observe and serve the seated customers;

I claim: r 1. A self-service furnishing outfit for retail stores, comprising a series of seats arranged in a row along one side of a comparatively. narrow space, a'narrow balcony for stock storage arranged above said seats, and substantially coextensive withthe length of the row, elevators adapted for operation be tween the seats and the balcony, and ar-,

ranged respectively at oneside of'each seat. 7 V

2. A self-service furnishing outfit for re: tall stores, COIIIPIISIIIg' a seriesofopen front booths arranged lengthwise a comparatively narrow space, seats in the booths for customers, a balcony providing stock storage space arranged above the booths, and separate elevators operating between the booths and stock storage space.

3. A self-service outfit for retail stores, comprising a series of booths arranged lengthwise and at one side of a comparatively narrow space, partitions and posts forming divisions between the booths, a balcony supported on the posts, and providing stock-storage space, seat platforms for cus tomers in the booths, the seat platforms of each booth being divided to provide individual seats, an elevator runway leading from a point above and convenient to each seat at a point above the balcony, and an elevator in each runway to carry articles be tween each particular seat and the balcony storage space.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

CHARLES C. CARPENTER.

Witnesses:

H. B. DAVIS, B. J. NOYES.

Copies 01 this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

